72andsunny

Hi all, I've been away a long, long time, and decided I'm pretty close to being able to get my (tall) 5 year old on the rather dusty bike (5 and a half years old, she'll tell you). We have a small frame Santana. I've got a non-suspension seat post and a few different handlebar posts/extensions. What else do I need for to make this work?

Thanks,
H@ole Pakeha Mike

merlinextraligh

you may want crank arm shorteners, depending on how tall she is, and what the stoker's crank is.

And you need patience, and playground stops, and ice cream stops, etc.

Tony Marley

And you need patience, and playground stops, and ice cream stops, etc.[/QUOTE]



Agree completely. And you may want to use toe clips, to help the small feet stay on the pedals.

mibike

My grand kids all are big enough to use bike shoes now 35 is the smallest I could find. Before they were I used a pair of Nashbar sandals. They have an adjustable heel strap. I would have them ware their shoes and strap the shoes in the sandals. That way they could clip in the pedals.

Chukbacca

Long ago I invested in a used pedal trailer, fantastic investment. My three girls and I gave ridden all over town. Parks are definitely an enticement as is the ice cream parlor and Daddy dates to McDonald's. My 6 year old is big enough for the real tandem and ...we...are learning to pedal together. That was a huge advantage to the pedal trailer, she could pedal whatever speed she wanted.

My two year old has just started riding the pedal trailer and loves being like her big sisters...she doesn't pedal, but doesn't really need to. Personally I think this allows them to focus on the environment (shiny), then pedal when they're ready, but best of all enjoy an activity with Dad.

We have a Trek mountain train, which I recommend as most of the pedal train brands have no customer service locations.

All of that being said, none of them have made the transition from training wheels on their own bikes.

Scraper

A trick I learned re training wheels was to take them off, lower the seat all the way, then have them push and coast without pedaling. They'll quickly start resting their feet on the pedals while coasting, then pedal.

Chukbacca

Great tip, I'll try it!
Thanks!

Chukbacca

https://goo.gl/photos/2jcfqci7GcHTPyKMA

Nomad2

We have used a WeeHoo iGo for the last 3 and a bit years from when my first son had just turned 6. We took part in the last 4 Great Victorian Bike Rides which are around 500km in 7 riding days. Our youngest (3 years younger) was in a Chariot Trailer towed by my wife. We are about to buy a tandem so we can take part in the ride this year as our eldest has outgrown the WeeHoo and his brother will move into that (he should have been in it a year ago but we didn't want to own 2 tag-alongs for a short period of time). The WeeHoo has been really good in that our son was seated and harnessed for the long days in the saddle. Handling was great on the flat and downhills. Did some serious climbing on it and was fine until the steepness got me into my lowest gear. At this stage countering any sideways movement from the rear passenger required constant concentration. Probably true of all tag-alongs. In the context of an event like this, regular stops were less of an issue and it was often our eldest son dragging us back to the bikes after a break (at least in more recent years). The kids are so keen to go each year and our 6 year old can't wait to move into the weeHoo.
As for getting our kids off training wheels. Our eldest was convinced to have a try on a flat bike path when we told him we had to remove the training wheels to fit his bike in the car to get to the path. He was willing and just worked on it and got going in about 5 minutes. Our youngest was more fearful of falling. I did try him on a football oval thinking the grass would help but the surface was no smooth enough. In the end, after retracting the training wheels as far as possible I convinced him that he was hardly using them anyway. I removed them and told him to pedal a few times on the footpath then brake, lean left and put his foot out. Then I told him to do the same except to the right. Then I told him to go a little further....

Alcanbrad

One thing to keep in mind is a little one will not be able to keep their feet on fast spinning cranks, especially on quick downshifts or starting to pedal after a fast descent where you start pedaling after forgetting to up shift. Be sure your little one has sturdy and protective footwear preferably ones without shoe laces.

Team Fab

Did you try a bmx shoe.

Many very small kids are clipped in.

Team Fab

https://www.bikeinn.com/bike/northwa...g&gclsrc=aw.ds

Available in a 32

mibike

Nice!

It's been a few years sense I needed small shoes for the grand kids but at the time I checked every online site I could think of, Googled them and had 4 different local stores try to order somthing. 35 was the best we could find and most brands started at 36 or above. It's good to know there is more options now.

Philly Tandem

We've used toe clips and (loose) straps for our son since he started riding on the triplet at about 5 years old. Never any problem with him getting in or out of them, or his feet coming off the pedals.

Trying to keep up with clipless-compatible bike shoes for a growing kid will make you go crazy or broke (or both). Regular shoes and clips/straps have served my son well over thousands of miles on the triple (he's 12 now), including multiple tours. They aren't as "biker cool" as clip-in shoes/pedals, but much more practical for kids IMO.

RJR49

That was in bicycling magazine 30 years ago. I taught most of the kids in the neighborhood that way. I took the pedals off to save their Achilles' tendons. Find a very slight slope. When they coast without putting their feet down put the pedals back on. See if you can find the article it has other tips

RJR49

My 5 year old GrandDaughters use kiddie cranks on my Santana. I highly recommend them

qspencer

We used crank shorteners on one tandem for a while. They solve the problem but with the downside of a 2 cm increase in Q factor, which is probably even more noticeable to short legs. For a while I had a Bike Friday tandem with right side drive and no front derailleur, which made it possible for me to install a 145mm BMX crank, but that solution only works for a small subset of tandems. However, perhaps the best option is the Da Vinci cranks with drillings for 3 lengths.

OneIsAllYouNeed

I've been contemplating similar things for my kid-friendly tandem. I'll be drilling and tapping the rear crankarms at 100mm, 125mm, and 155mm (for my 5'3" wife).

For kid pedals, I'll be using toe clips with straps (top and back). I'll stuff some pipe insulation into the toe clip to accommodate really small shoes.

Kids' seats are noticeably smaller than adult seats, so I'm going to use one of those, too.

I think the most important part is to let her pick out the bell/horn for the rear handlebar.

RJR49

I also use crank shorteners. They work fine but are limited by weight (I think) because of the 10 - 32 screw used to hold them on. I cut the thread and 1/2" of the barrel of a cheap pair of peddles and screwed a strap across the back. Now adults can use the crank shorteners too. You need pedal axels with the Allen hex in the back. The .PDF is basically the way you do it.

RJR49

"I think the most important part is to let her pick out the bell/horn for the rear handlebar." I might do that too but I'm afraid they will drive me crazy. I put a cyclometer on the back so they can see how we are doing

bockwho

all of those are correct.

i used crank shorterns with my 6 year old.... at ten he wants spd's on his 5 speed mtn bike and his terry road bike.


if you tell me what cranks you have i might make you a sweet heart deal on a set of shortners.

qspencer

My son (also 10) found a small set of cycling shoes on clearance at REI a couple of years ago and talked us into buying it and putting SPD pedals on his bike. We've now gone down the slippery slope of buying bigger sizes since then. If you (or anyone else on this forum) have interest in a pair of SPD compatible shoes in size 36 or 38 that have only been used a handful of times, feel free to message me. I would gladly send them to someone for the cost of shipping because otherwise they will just collect dust.